The first Scandal of my life
by chysalis
Summary: Rachel Berry needs a boyfriend. STAT! Spring Formal is close and she is gonna show them that she can totally get somebody hot. Nobody needs to know that Jesse St. James is gay... He IS gay... right?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:**

**Hello Folks.**

**This is my new story. I needed something else then "Bad Romance". Right now, writing that wouldn't come from my heart, which means that it would be craptastic. As soon as I can replace the crap with fan I will continue with Bad Romance. I hope you like the light-hearted **

**Of course it is St. Berry. I will be a St. Berry believer until the end of "Glee". I'm not to blame for this. It was the awesome chemistry of Jonathan Groff and Leah Michele.**

_ St. Berry St. Berry St. Berry_

Rachel Berry considered herself very lucky. She wasn't the most popular student at McKinley High, but in exchange she was very talented. She didn't have a mother; instead she had two very loving gay dads. She had Puck, her boyfriend of a month now. Rachel considered herself very lucky.

If somebody had asked Rachel two months ago if she was ever gonna go out with Noah Puckerman (of all people), she would have laughed out loud, but usually nobody talked to her. Her going out with 'El Puckerino' was so bizarre that no one would have considered it anyway. Talent was not enough to be popular at McKinley High. You had to have more. You had to be beautiful, slightly arrogant and very much a Cheerio, like Santana Lopez or Quinn Fabray. Rachel satisfied herself with sneaking glances at the footballers when they were crossing her in the hall or while she was eating her sandwich during lunch break. She imagined great love stories where she was swept of her feet by true love but prided herself in knowing that stuff like that was for fairy tales and Disney movies, not that there was anything wrong with watching a occasional Disney movie.

She would have continued in her beliefs if that fateful night hadn't happened. Glee Club was supposed to distract her from her loneliness, but she would never have thought that Glee would put an end to it.

It was one of the dreaded assignments that Mr. Shue gave out left and right instead of focusing on developing a steady set list. She had been late in the Auditorium and just when she was about to leave Puck had approached her.

"How long do you think it is gonna take Berry?"

Rachel was a bit taken back for a couple of reasons, Number one being Puck actually talking to her.

"I'm almost done. You can have the Auditorium now if you like." Puck laughed a little and practically slided over to her. Rachel stiffened at the feeling of having him so close.

"I didn't mean that Berry. How long until you finally realized that I have an interest in you. That you and I… are a very well matched Team. Not only because we are two very good looking Jews, but also because we could light the room on fire with our chemistry. Didn't you notice during rehearsal?"

She hadn't but that didn't matter. Chemistry could be really subjective.

"Are you asking me out?" Her words were filled with caution. There were so many reasons for her to be mocked and humiliated every day. She didn't need throw oil into the fire.

"Oh yeah. Definitely!" Puck nodded and closed the last bit of space between them to swoop in for a kiss. Rachel had never thought that getting a boyfriend could be that farcically easy. Puck just came and swept her off her feet.

Of course they weren't an official couple. Both of them had their reputation and, as hard as it had been, Rachel understood that Puck wanted to keep his 'at least until College'. And having Rachel Berry the dorky musical-geek as girlfriend definitely wouldn't give him any brownie points with the rest of the In-Crowd. She just didn't belong (which was fine...ish...). It was great having him come over and making out. It was worth the sneakiness and secrets.

They never really talked much. She tried to listen when he told her about Super Mario and Mario Brothers, (was there a Mario 2000 or something?), and how the world would be a better place if the same rules of the gaming world would apply in the real world, but she never really managed to follow him. She also had to try really hard not to get obviously jealous when she watched Puck working his little spell on the female members of the Cheerios, especially Santana Lopez. Damn her, with her olive skin and her raven hair and her perfect figure; at least she was a horrible person, something that kept Rachel calm when she thought about Puck and Santana together at night.

Recently a topic had come up that made Rachel a little bit sick: the spring formal. She wanted to go and she didn't want to go alone, not again. Sitting alone at spring formal was like a branding that said "shrew and spinster to be". Rachel had felt this before; last spring formal, and winter formal. It was horrid so she hoped against hope that Puck would take her. Just this once.

"Puck?"

"Hmmpf?"

"Spring formal is soon."

"Hmmpf."

"Can you … I mean I know.. you have your reputation to protect and stuff. But… can you…"

Her stammering finally brought Puck to stop sucking her neck, not that she didn't like it but she had noticed that all they did was make out recently.

"Why?"

"Because I'd like to go, but I don't want to go by myself?" The last part was more of a question then an actual statement but Puck just looked at her thoughtful and sat back.

"It's really important to me."

"Berry. Really? Already?" Puck shook his head slightly and got off the bed "I didn't want to do it like that, especially since I'm sure you tried, but I don't think we are going to be together anymore." He gave her a look that, and she was fairly positive was supposed to be sorry for her, but it came across like he was explaining to very dumb person something that was really easy.

Rachel felt like Puck had slapped her across her face.

She shook her head.

"Why? Why … I thought you liked me!"

Puck sat back next to her and put her arm around her and started to caress her as if he was trying to comfort her. "But I do like you sweetheart. I do, but I need someone who will want me as a man. You're just not ready for that. In the end I'm doing us both a favor. I want to stay friends with you."

Then he started to pat her back like she was his favorite dog.

"Wanting you as a man. You mean … sex?"

Puck nodded absently. "I'm a young red-blooded man. Full of testestertone and… poise…"

"Testosterone" Rachel automatically corrected.

"Exactly Testosterone. So you do understand." At least he seemed genuinely happy about that.

It was like watching a comedy scene on television when Puck gave her a peck on the cheek. Rachel felt too gobsmacked to cry. Everything was going so totally wrong.

"I tell you what Rachel. At spring formal you can hang out, ok? You know with us? Don't worry. I will brief them so they won't say anything. So you won't have to be alone. Big buddy promise." Still to flabbergasted to answer she watched as Puck gave her shoulder a soft punch, threw his jacket of his shoulder and left with a hearty

"PEACE OUT!"


	2. Chapter 2

Authors Note: I know that I epic-failed. Update wise. I apologize for that. If anyone is still interested. I finally have more time, again. A lot of things happened that made it hard for me to write at all. I hope you like it. I give you a slightly longer update

Jesse St. James considered himself very unlucky. He was very talented. But so broke that he couldn't even afford an Amtrak ticket to LA or even New York. He did have a scholarship to the UCLA. But couldn't afford rent or living. Even if he got a job, Jesse had discovered he was at least $ 3.000 short. He had considered asking his parents but there was so much between them that he felt too proud to ask for money. He had it all. Except for the so much needed cash.

He always had been drawn to the dramatic side of live. So sitting on the hood of his care, looking over Lima and debating is misfortune seemed like an appropriate response to his circumstances. Of course, he could push his plans back a year, but that would put a dent into his plans of winning his first awards with 21 the latest. An early start was the most important thing in the entertainment business. Jesse didn't want to be known for starting out late. Other "actors" may have prided themselves with that but Jesse wanted fame for his talent. And maybe his face. So he had three more month to come up with the money, pack his bags and move to LA.

"Are we going to stay long?"

Jesse let his head fall back to look over his shoulder. It was a mistake that he had brought Gabrielle. But she was whining so much that his mother had practically begged to take her along. After all she was the daughter of his mothers oldest friend. Couldn't he be a little bit nice to her? And they had been band mates in Vocal Adrenaline. Just take her out for a ride.

'Thanks mom.' Jesse thought and hopped off the hood.

"I'm trying to think Gabby. And I cannot think if you keep whining in the back seat." Gabbys lower lip shot forward making her look like a pouty four-year old.

"When you took me along I thought were going to do something fun." Reconsidering she started batting her eyelashes and reached out to play with his fingers. He should have known that this would be coming sooner or later.

"We still could. We are ALL by yourself. There A LOT of room in the car. Why not enjoy it." Again. Would she ever give up?

Jesse considered telling her how much he hated it when she pronounced certain words to make a point. And to tell her that this wouldn't be necessary if she actually had a point.

"Thanks… Gabby. But, no thanks. I'm not interested."

And there it was. Again. The pout. Jippih.

"I can't believe that you'd reject a sexy woman like me!"

"I just… see you … more as a sister. But.." Jesse stressed for good measure "Just… pretend for me to be…gay. That way no one is at fault and we can all move on?"

Gabby looked a bit taken aback for a second. Then her look got confused.

"So are you? Gay, I mean."

Ok… so no more innuendos. Ok… maybe one more. Winking at her Jesse got in the car

"You'll never know." Maybe that would help her keeping her jammy hands of him.

Today Rachel Berry considered herself cursed. Why? Why did she have to walk into the same shop as the Cheerios to find a dress for spring formal. But it was one way to find out that Puck was now going out with the free wheeling Santana Lopez. Looked like he had found someone, who wanted him as a man. But then again Santana wanted pretty much every guy as a man. Or as a woman.

"You are NOT going to wear that." Rachel flinched when she heart Sanatas voice behind her. She had liked this dress and thought it made her look sexy.

"You look like Frump girl. If you just think for a second about hanging out with us then forget it. Not as long as you look like someone who dresses like they just escaped from a Miss Cornrow Pageant in No-ones Town, Texas."

Rachel nodded subdued. No use fighting this with Santana.

"No!"

"Ugly."

"Girls… look at that. Rachel looks like a guy." Santana pointed her finger at Rachel and giggled: "Well at least I don't have to fear that you will look prettier than me."

Two hours. Rachel was trying dresses for two hours. She'd gone from beautiful to absolutely ridiculous. But Santana seemed to enjoy her little "Humiliate Rachel" Game. And finally. After the fortieth or so dress, something in her broke.

"You know what. I don't care. I will wear what I like." To underline her point Rachel threw the latest hideousness Santana had given her on the floor. And tried to sound confident instead of guilty. She would pick it up later and offer to have it cleaned. It wasn't the dresses fault after all.

"Then you are not hanging around us Berry." Santana threatened and for a second Rachel wondered if her name had supposed to be Satana. But now was not the moment to drift of so Rachel threw her shoulders back and gave Santana the snottiest look she could muster up.

"That's fine. I don't think **my date** would have liked it anyways."

"Your… date?" But instead of looking impressed Santana started laughing…. AT HER.

"Date. Right. ok.. a cousin does not count as a date!" Santana smiled devilishly but her friend Britney looked confused.

"He doesn't? Because my cousin James is like really cute. Can we make exceptions for especially cute cousins."

"It is not my cousin." Rachel replied with a whiff of offendedness.

"Fine. Then bring him. Let us take a look at him to see if he is just blind or really completely deranged." Santana grinned. 'Bitch' Rachel thought to herself.

"He just fine. You'll see."

Santana nodded agreeing. "Oh yes. We will."

Rachel had once read that Bali was incredibly nice around this time of year. She could work at a bar and sing for her income. She didn't need her High school diploma. And immigrating seemed very tempting right now. Not only didn't she have a date. She didn't even have a cousin she could ask for a date. The only male person the new wouldn't refuse was one of her dads. And going with her dad to a formal was like happily commiting social suicide.

She was completely caught up in her fantasy of meeting a young nice handsome man on Bali so she only noticed that another driver had run over a red light when he hit her.

"This. was. not. my. fault. I had a green light. You ran over a red one." Rachel was livid. She could have died! Or worse: She could have suffered an injury to her face. Nobody wanted to see a Broadway actress with a scar in her face.

The young man looked at her a bit disgusted and snarled "Thank you for stating the obvious. I don't know if I had noticed if you hadn't pointed it out so nicely."

Rachel gaped at him. How rude.

"You could have killed me, you jerk. Let's see what the police says to it."

He gave her a side way glance and coughed: "Do we really need the police? Nobody is hurt. Your car is just dented. My car only has a few scratches. Do we REALLY need the police?" His looked turned a bit pleadingly and begrudged Rachel saw his point. They would have to wait forever if they called the police. But she felt crabby right now and not at all gracious enough to let him off like that. Jerk.

"Exactly my door is dented. Am I supposed to just let that go? Do I look like a mechanic?"

He coughed again and then gave her the most dazzling smile she had ever seen.

"Well I know a guy. He would do it for a super cheap price. What do you say? I hook you up and we call it even?" Rachel felt herself drawn to him like a fly to a lamp. This smile was so… dazzling.

Rachel bit herself into the side of her mouth as hard as she could. She was not gonna let him walk over her. However … golden … he was.

"Na. I don't think so. How about that: You hook me up, pay for the dent and THEN we call it even." Immediately the guy looked fussy again.

"I'm… kind of.. broke. Ok? And if I have to pay for that, it will really throw me back. "

Rachel shrugged. "Not my problem. It is either that or the police. You may choose." He gave her a death glare for a second and then started rummaging in his glove department for pen and paper. Rachel watched him for a second yotting down his details. Then she took out her cell phone and took a picture of him.

"What the…" this time he gaped at her. And Rachel found that it was a nice feeling to be on the receiving end of a gape.

"Just a little insurance. You can write me down pretty much anything. And then? You're off and I never see you again…" she took a quick look on the paper. "Jesse St. James? What kind of name is that? If you try to mess with me, can't you at least give me name that is not that pretentious?"

A flash of anger washed over his face. Just for the tiniest second, but it had definitely been there. And for this split second Rachel regretted saying anything. She probably would be angry too if somebody called her name pretentious.

"Do you wanna see my driver's license? It is my actual name. If you don't like it, have a chat with my parents about it."

"Sorry. I'm kind of … crabby today. And the last thing I needed was this." She motioned with her hand of the scene. While Rachel was in for a fight today it didn't help the circumstances if she fought it out with a complete stranger or something so trivial as a name. Stay classy! Stay Barbara!

The apology seemed to help because he lines around his eyes smoothed over "Believe me. It didn't make my day go better too…."

"Rachel Berry."

He gave her one more smile. "…Rachel Berry."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** I hope you like. Read and enjoy. Maybe review.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee, it's characters or stuff. Looking on my checking account I probably also couldn't afford them.

Rachel Berry was ready to admit defeat. Total defeat. She was done. She had lost the battle, the war and had fallen into a deep pit of EPIC! EPIC! FAIL! Now there was only one thing left do to: She had to change her name and her face. She had to move to a far foreign country. Maybe Canada. On the other hand if she learned Spanish she could go to Mexico and become the queen of telenovela. It was no broadway, but it was something. It was better than any of this.

Laying on her bed Rachel contemplated immigrating one more time. But having those kind of dreams only dented her car last time. And she kind of doubted that her dads would have understood her sudden need for a change of scenery.

She had contacted almost every male person she had ever met. Even Dennis Billter, who was the snotty son of her dads receptionist. Who wore braches and smelt like ginger ale. And each and every one had told her "No". Life sucked.

And she did like Lima. She still did like Glee Club, even if she the dorky outsider in between the dorky outsiders. She liked her home and her room and her car. She liked things. But spring formal was two days away and Rachel wasn't sure whether she could take another humiliation.

"Dear God. It's me Rachel Berry." Rachel felt a little bit bad that she only prayed when she wanted something but right now she needed a miracle really really badly. "If you can hear me: I need a date. For spring formal. I know that it sounds silly but I really need it. So if you are not too busy stopping world hunger and bringing on world peace, please get me a date. Just … view it as a sign for me to go on. I need… Something! Anything so that I know things will be ok. Can't just send me a sign please? PLEASE? I promise to be more diligently with my temple going… also…"

The phone rudely interrupted Rachel quiet prayers. She contemplated for a moment to just let it ring. After all. She had yet to make sure God knew the details about her date wishes. Living with two dads had taught her one thing: If you requested something from a male, you needed to be detailed. Otherwise you wished for tickets to Barbara and your dad (Bless his heart) would get you tickets to "the View".

But since the phone wouldn't stop ringing and began to be annoying Rachel decided to answer the all anyways.

"Yes?" she snapped.

"Hey. This is Jesse? Jesse St. James. You know… the guy who dented your car?" Rachel felt her irritation level rise. Why did he have to call now? She was praying for a sign! Was it so hard to let her pray for a goddamn sign? Oh… of course she meant 'for a really nice sign that may or may not change her life but was definitely not blasphemic?'

"Yeah. This is not a very convenient moment Jesse. Can I call you back?" She was about to hang up when she heard a muffled "WAIT!"

"This is really not a good time." she gritted. "Can I just call you back?"

"Listen, I know that you are probably not all that happy about the dent. So I get that you do not really want to talk to me. But I need to talk with you about the compensation."

"I don't think there is anything we still have to talk about. I thought we agreed. I will get the car repaired. You will pay for it."

It was almost as if she could HEAR Jesse fidgeting on the other side of the line. Which seemed odd. When she met him he hadn't seem like the kind of guy who would "fidge". "Yeah. you are kinda right. But as I mentioned, my financial situation is not the best right now. So I hoped I could pay you back in installments?"

Rachel considered it for a while. She didn't really need the money. All she wanted was usually something musical related. And her parents were more than happy to give her "extra pocket money" for that. So she hardly ever spent any. On the other hand… she didn't feel like making it easy for him. The world didn't make it easy for her either.

"Ahhh… I don't know about that. I kinda need the money too, you know." Blatant lie. But how was he to know. But apparently he wasn't a push over either because instead of faltering she heard him clear his throat and then some noise of agreement.

"I can understand that.. Rachel. But.. can't we arrange something? Anything?" As desperate as his words were, somehow Jesse managed to sound normal and for a split second Rachel asked herself if he ever had considered becoming an actor. Because he seemed really fit for…

Maybe Rachels imagination was too vivid. Maybe she had seen too many rom-coms but suddenly she felt like she had the perfect idea. An idea that would help both of them. And nobody would get hurt. It was actually kind of _brilliant_. _She_ was actually kind of brilliant.

"How about…?" She stretched. No easy way to propose an idea like this.

"Yeah?" he interrupted. A little bit too eager to please her. He seemed to really need the money. All the better for her!

"How about you pretend to be my boyfriend? For spring formal?" That was easy.

Silence. Rachel had to admit that it wasn't the most usual proposition but she wouldn't have thought that she could shock him into silence.

"You want to… buy me?" He was sounding taken aback.

Ok. That just sounded wrong. And made her hear the 'Pretty Woman' Soundtrack in the back of her head which was totally inappropriate.

"Not buy you… more… rent you. Once. For spring formal. It is two days away. I really need a date." While Rachel did realize how despondent she sound, she could appreciate how it would look in the personal life section of her future Wikipedia entry.

"And you would let me off for that?" he sounded suspicious. Rachel hoped because the offer was too good to be true.

"Not totally of course. More like. 50 percent. I'm willing to take off 50% of your bill."

"And that would entail…?" Did he just sound interested? He definitely sounded interested!

"You pick me up at 7 o'clock. Dressed to impress. Then you take me to spring formal and stay by my side. You make sure that everybody gets to see that we are the perfect couple. We dance, we laugh, we leave. That's all." It could work. Rachel knew it could. If it could work on 'The Bold and the Beautiful', this could work right now.

"Hmmm. I guess natural touches are included. Like hand holding or my arm around your shoulders?" She hadn't thought of that. But he was right. They did need a certain amount of closeness to be convincing. Also she wanted Puck to see that she was indeed very well able to "love a man as a man".

"I want to look like we have super sexy fun times."

"Super sexy fun times? What are you, twelve? My body is not an amusement park, you know?" For a second she felt anger rise, but pushed it down with all her might.

"Funny. No I mean. I want to be convincing in… us being…"

"Over second base?" he volunteered.

"Something like that. I wouldn't have voiced it like that, but yeah. Something like that!" She agreed begrudgingly.

"So let me get this straight. You are offering me, to take 50% off my bill if I take you on **one** date, be as convincing as I can and make out with you a bit in front of your peeps."

"If you say it like that it makes me look really desperate. But yes. That's what I'm offering."

Rachel swallowed. If he said no now, she would definitely leave the country.

"DEAL!"

For a second Rachel was certain she had misheard. Deal? Didn't that mean he said yes? As in In-your-face-Satana- In your face Noah?

"Rachel…babe? Are you still there?" she shook herself out of her stupor and grabbed the phone tighter.

"Yes I'm still there. And there is no need to go into that kind of language. At least not right now."

"I'm practicing" Jesse answered laughing. And even though his voice hadn't changed over the course of the conversation, something told Rachel that he was relieved. "I see you on Friday. Send me your details per text message."

And just like that, he hung up. And just like that, Rachel Berry could pride herself to have a date for spring formal.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** I thank everybody who reads this. And I love, hug and give candy to anyone who reviews. Thank you guys :D

**Disclaimer:** Possession is a very abstract concept. Just because I use them doesn't mean that I owe them.

Chapter 4

The moment that Rachel descended down the stairs she knew that her plan was made out of total brilliant as Barbara Streisand performance "The Way We Were". Absolut and utter awesomeness. She couldn't have picked a better date to get back at Puck and Santana if she had Chris Harrison and 25 men to choose from.

Jesse looked absolutely gorgeous. Perfect hair, perfect suit and perfect smile. He was already charming her fathers and moved so gracefully that Rachel could not believe that Jesse had ever worn anything else but a suit.

This was going to be like one of those nights you only saw in movies. It would be absolutely perfect. Not only because he was already a senior but also because he needed this evening to be perfect as much as her. Tonight they would be the perfect couple. He would be dashing. She would be radiant. And nothing would go wrong.

And then Puck would see what he had lost. We would see and then he would reconsider. Because nothing got a guy going like jealousy. And to see her get fawned over by this dream guy (who was so not her cousin, mind you!), should pretty much do the trick. So she would reclaim Puck and with that humiliate Santana for being her snott, arrogant self. And then she would dump Puck, because he didn't deserve her in the end. She would tell him that she was soo soo sorry but she didn't feel like you could love her the way she wanted him too.

Her plan was 100% win!

"Don't worry about it. You look very nice." Jesse assured her again while sitting in the car in front of the McKinley High Auditorium. Rachel hadn't considered her nervousness when obsessing thinking about this plan the last two days. She had not considered that she would sit in the car, too scared to make an actual move. That never really happened in ANY movie. She was supposed to go out there. Confident and with poise. Instead she tried unsuccessfully to make her knees stop shaking.

"You know. To get this over with, we have to actually go in." Jesse prodded gently and Rachel tried to get her nerves together. "I know. We are. Just give me a second, ok?"

He nodded and stared out of his window for a minute but then looked at her again. "You wanna talk about it?" Rachel shook her head. "Or maybe sing about it?" For a second Rachel thought he was mocking her but when she examined his face he looked dead serious. Oh. He was dead serious.

Somehow Rachel liked that.

"Let us just go in, ok?" She put on her show face and tried to calm herself down, while Jesse jogged around the car to open her door. Maybe it was the fresh blast of night air that hit her. Or maybe it was the hand that Jesse extended to her. Or the softness of his touch when he helped her out of the car. But for just one moment Rachel Berry was absolutely and utterly sure that nothing could go wrong that night. That everything would be absolutely fine.

It was weird how different walking into a dance was when you had somebody to hold onto. Usually Rachel just came in and would go over to the drinks right away and hold onto one cup for the rest of the night. She would watch how the couples swayed with the music and envy the for being so lucky.

But tonight was differetnt.

Tonight she was walked into the room accompanied by a fine young man whose eyes where solely devoted to her. Tonight she had someone who marveled with her at the decoration, agreed that there where way too much ballons and laughed about her snarky comments regarding the DJ. So she was unfortunately unprepared when she met Puck and his gang. She just remembered her purpose of being here when his hand landed on her shoulder and she heart his voice

"Hey there Berry!"

Hey! There! Berry! What a completely inappropriate greeting for his ex-girlfriend. But since nobody really knew of their clandistine affair., maybe his greeting was not that inappropriate after all. And they were supposed to be friends now. Which is why both of them had their dates. Respectively of course.

Rachel watched Puck slink over to her side of the room with Karofsky and Santana close behind. Before she could find her voice to answer him, Puck had hit her playfully on the shoulder and winked in her direction "Hey babe. How is it hangin'?" Rachel smiled tentatively and reached out to take Jesses Hand. But instead of holding it, he used her hand to pull her closer and slung his arm around her waist.

"Hey. I'm Jesse St. James. Rachel's date." He shot a charming smile and gave Rachel a playfull little wink.

Rachel heared Santana suck in air and mentally patted herself on the shoulder. She was really happy how things seemed to play out. But this plan had been approved by Hollywood and Broadway plays again and again over the years. So there was really no doubt that this was a marvelous idea that…

"Aren't you the lead singer of 'Vocal Adrenaline'. The Glee Club of Carmel High?" Santana asked with an incredulous pitch in her voice. WHA…?

"Was." Jesse answered smiling. Tugging Rachel a bit closer to him "I graduated already. Now I'm just enjoying myself over the summer before I take my full ride to a little university called UCLA. Maybe you've heard of it. It's in LA."

Sometimes Rachel was very, very happy that she could provide things like a show-face. She knew that she was smiling proudly at him right now and that nothing in her face gave away that she didn't have a clue. She had a faint remembrance about the male lead of Vocal Adrenaline. But with Sectionals coming up, she had been solely focused on their competition that was. Not the competition that could be. There was no reason to funkify yourself. So she smiled. At Jesse. And at Puck. And at Santana. And tried really hard to look relaxed.

"So how did you meet?" Santana enquired loftily. But the looks she shot gave Rachel the chills. Rachel was pretty sure that she was just looking for a loophole in their story.

"Well we…" Rachel began. But Jesse was faster as she. "We met at a musicstore. I happened to see her performing 'Don't rain on my parade' once. Definitly talented. So I approached her in the book store and gave her a short run over. Then we happened to sing "Hello" by Lionel Richie together. After that I just knew that I had to get to know her. And luckily for me, she was still available."

Rachel smiled again. To her ears the story sounded a little constructed. But it was better than anything she did have in mind.

Jesse swallowed with a little disgust the last bit of his warm soft drink. He really wouldn't have minded a beer now. The room was over crowded by girls in dresses that revealed to much and guys that should learn how a proper suit was supposed to fit. And while they spasm away in a way they probably would call dancing, Jesse waited for Rachel to come back from the bathroom. He had done well today. He was attentive, charming and all over pleasant. But he did pick up on the weird vibrations between Puck and Rachel. And he was far to nosy to NOT find out what this was about. Since Santana had followed along Puck was standing next to him, scanning the crowd, looking entirely at ease with himself.

"Hey Puck."

Puck looked in his direction and shot him a grin. "What up, dude?" Jesse tried to ask his question carefully. No reason to wake up sleeping lions right?

"I had a feeling. There was this.. vibe between you and Rachel. Is there something I should know?"

Puck nodded at him, knowingly. Then he put his hand on Jesses shoulder and drew him closer.

"Listen buddy. It's like that. The Puckman and Berry had a fling a while back. But I found out that Berry is not capable of loving a man like man is supposed to be loved by a woman. So I broke it off."

Ok. This, was clearly a misunderstanding. No problem. Easy to clear that up.

"So." Jesse enquired carefully. "If I get your meaning right then…"

"Yes. I'm sorry dude. But Rachel is not into the whole man and woman thing. Especially the physical part. She should have told you. Sucks to be you! It's not her fault though. Sometimes, girls are just like that."

Suddenly everything made a lot more sense to Jesse. That was why a cute girl like her was still single. The lesbian dating market probably wasn't very huge. Also Lima was a small town so there was no need to raise too much awareness. Especially since she had been brought up by two gay dad's. It wouldn't have been the first time that small minded townies tried to use facts like this as a disadvantage for gay parents raising a gay child.

He knew how bad harrassment could get, when the wrong people suspected you to be gay. His love of musicals and anything Glee-related didn't make him out to be the straightest of guys.

Right now he almost felt bad, taking money from her. It must have been hard on her. But Jesse was determined to help her out as long as he was still in Ohio. And even afterwards, she could use his picture to pretend he was her boyfriend as long as she liked.

"Thank you." Rachel tried to smile but felt that it came out a little awkward. She hated the moment in front her house. She didn't know how to react right.

Jesse smiled at her and turned his body slightly in her direction. The whole lighting was incredibly favorable on him. She could see the moonlight in his hair and the soft lighting made his feature even more attractive then they naturally were. They had been so close over the whole evening, that it was hard to remember that she had practically bought his friendship. That nothing real was going on between them. And without knowing why, Rachel slightly leaned into his direction. For a second she allowed herself to get absorbed in his charms and smiles.

"You're welcome. I had fun." Jesse raised his hand up to stroke her hair and smiled at her. Then he leaned in...

….and gave her a faint kiss on the head. It was nothing more than a peck.

Rachel felt a little sad. And a little dumbfounded.

"Look. If you ever need me again to play your boyfriend, just let me know. It would be an honor to assist you." Then he pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Again…. thank you…" she tried to smile again and then turned to get out of the car.

That had been weird. For a second her imagination had tricked her, that there had been a certain spark. That he was attracted to her. He had looked at her so softly and fondly. What was that all about? It didn't matter. Since she probably wouldn't see him again, it really didn't matter.

And just because she happened to run into him in a music book store a couple of days latter, it still didn't matter. He was accompanied by a sullen girl with long reddish hair. Rachel watched to pair while they strolled the shelves. The girl always one or two steps behind him. Even for someone as inexperienced as Rachel the dynamic of the relationship was quiet easily determined. Rachel knew how one-sided love looked like. She had see that look in her mirror more than once.

Which made it wrong in Rachel book to interrupt. And it was not like she and Jesse were something to each other. So there was no reason to greet him and make the other girl feel bad. The moment she turned around to leave, he spotted her. And practically bounced into her direction.

"Hey there, Rachel. How are you." He smiled his oh-so-heart-melting-smile and Rachel felt a little bit gooey inside. So maybe he was a presumptious, self loving jerk. But he also was a very charming, gentle person who had provided her with one of the best evenings in a long time. Or he was a very good actor.

"Hello, Jesse. How are you?" She smiled at him and then tried to get a curious glance at his lady friend. Who was staring at her as curiously. Mustering up a smile Rachel extended her hand and directed her voice to the grumpy girl.

"Hi, I'm Rachel."

But instead of smiling back or taking her hand the girl turned to Jesse, pouting: "Jesse, Who is this girl. What's your connection to her?" Rachel watched a little bit stunned as the girl grabbed Jesse by the arm and started to hug it like there was no tomorrow. She almost expected her to stomp her foot.

With a sign Jesse untangled himself from the girl " This is Rachel. A friend of mine. Behave please." Ok, maybe she wasn't his girlfriend. But there was definitely a connection because as soon as the girl noticed that she left her bag [her freaking bag, how brainless could one be] over at the Sondheim section, Jesse turned around and jogged over to get it. Somehow being alone with the pouty girl felt like a really bad idea.

"I didn't leave my bag at the Sondheim Section. I left it as "Broadway Musical of the 1920's. So it will take some time before he will be back." The girl suddenly hissed forcing Rachel step back. There was vitriol in her voice.

"I just wanna make clear. Leave your frumpy fingers off Jesse. He doesn't want you and he never will." Rachel coughed and felt a bit embarrassed.

"I think you might misunderstand this. We are just friends. Well, even "friends" might be too strong of a word."

The girl scoffed "Do you think I'm stupid? Do you think, I didn't see how mooney eyed you got as soon as you saw him. But let me tell you, Jesse is not interested in girls…."

Suddenly plastering a smile over her face the girl stopped talking and beamed. Turning around Rachel saw Jesse jogging back with the book bag in her hand. With his perfectly moussed hair. Graceful like only a dancer could be. Fingers with well kept nails holding the bag. She should have known.

She grew up with two gay dads and still her gaydar seemed to be out of tune lately. Otherwise she would have spotted it within seconds. Jesse was a little bit too perfect, a little bit too fabulous to be a normal teenager. This. explained. a lot.

Additionally that made things easier for her. Because now she didn't have to worry to make a fool out of herself in front of him. HE would never like her, like her anyways. So maybe this could be the start of a beautiful friendship after all. Didn't they say that a gay man was a girl's best friend?


End file.
